Major League Baseball during a pandemic looks like this: a masked hitter breaking a home run, a bottle of hand sanitizer hanging from a referee’s waist, cardboard cutouts of fans placed on seats behind the plate, artificial cheers used after plays that benefited the home team.
It was quirky, but for so many Yankees and Mets players, it was very welcome. Although the Saturday show and the one scheduled for Sunday night were preludes to the abbreviated 60-game regular season, which begins Thursday, the two sides have not faced another opponent since March 12, the day the Spring training was closed due to the coronavirus.
In a normal year, rivals crossing the city framing would add intrigue. But in a world turned upside down by a pandemic, players were happy to compete against someone other than their own teammates and slowly move towards the games that count.
“This is one of the days we were looking forward to and waiting for during the second offseason,” Mets first baseman Pete Alonso said before his team lost to the Yankees, 9-3, Saturday night. at Citi. Countryside.
These exhibition games quickly emerged out of necessity. The second preseason was originally supposed to be held in Arizona and Florida, the two spring training centers. Scheduling games would have been much easier given the proximity of the teams.
But because coronavirus cases increased both in the states and in teams experiencing an increase in infections among their players and staff members, Major League Baseball moved summer training to club stadiums. The teams were allowed to play as many games within the squad as they wanted, but only three exhibition games were allowed against another club.
The Cleveland Indians took a two-hour trip, and dealt with a broken down bus, to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates on Saturday. The Philadelphia Phillies played the Nationals in Washington on Saturday, and hosted the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday and then will face the Yankees on Monday in the Bronx.
Other teams had to get on a plane: the Houston Astros to Kansas City, Missouri, and the Miami Marlins to Atlanta. However, the most remote team, the Seattle Mariners, only had inter-squad squad contests. The furthest the Yankees had to travel for their three games: Queens on Saturday.
As some players did, Yankees manager Aaron Boone skipped the team bus and drove with his bench coach Carlos Mendoza to Citi Field. The routine was different from a normal Mets-Yankees game: there was a temperature check before entering the stadium, masks were required inside, all other lockers were empty at the visitor’s club headquarters, and a canopy was erected. behind each bench so that reserve players could see with more distance.
“It was a little bit different, but exciting at the same time: We’re finally playing against another team,” Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela said.
Both teams viewed these exhibition games as equally useful on and off the field. There are 113 pages of new MLB regulations exclusive to the 2020 season, so these games were a test to host a visiting team. And while teammates can offer comments, opponents raise the stakes.
“I felt like I was overthrowing, but it was to be expected in front of a different team,” said Yankees pitcher Zack Britton, who allowed an inning run on Saturday. “It was good to finally have the feeling of getting some adrenaline that way, so it’s not new when we open the regular season.”
One player who could benefit from facing opponents: infielder DJ LeMahieu, the Yankees’ best complete player last season. He joined the team on Friday after the Yankees announced on July 4 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus while at home in Michigan. He said he took nearly a dozen tests before he finally scored the consecutive negative results at least 24 hours apart ordered by MLB for a return. He said he never had any symptoms.
LeMahieu did not play in the game on Saturday. He stayed at Yankee Stadium to exercise. As for his 2020 debut, he said: “If it’s not opening day, it will be the first games.”
For those who played Saturday, it was a useful set-up. Rick Porcello, the Mets’ starting pitcher, allowed three runs in five innings, including a two-run blast in the second deck to Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier, one of the few players to cover his face during the game.
“None of us, you players or really, I think anyone, knew how it would work once we got to camp,” Porcello said. “With each passing day, he seems to be rolling smoother and softer, he touches wood. Now we come to this point where we play against other teams and in a couple of days we will reach a regular season. It is exciting just because of the unknowns that come this season. ”
Competing for a spot on the Yankees’ opening roster, Michael King, a rookie, gave up just one run in four innings on Saturday. The Mets made four errors, two by third baseman Max Moroff. During a sixth-inning sequence in which he was hit with three straight balls, the artificial cheer was inadvertently played when he threw out of first base.
King said he didn’t mind the false noise from the crowd. However, he was initially surprised by the hundreds of cardboard cutouts of Mets fans behind the plate, calling them “a little weird.” But he quickly forgot about them while focusing on opposing hitters. Britton said he actually liked the cuts.
“I guarantee that if the fans were out there, he would definitely be a little more pumped up and have a little more adrenaline,” King said. “But still, throwing against another team was all the adrenaline he needed.”
After the game, players and coaches said that it felt quite normal despite the new restrictions and the empty stands. “Because it was an exhibition, it felt really competitive,” Boone said. But he pointed out that his players had a particular area for improvement: after the final exit, they were unsure how to celebrate given MLB’s ban on hitting fives and fists. They used pantomimes instead.
“I hope we can be more creative in the regular season, where it is a big problem when you win a game,” Boone said. “I don’t want to lose that.”
INTERIOR STEP
Sunday germanThe Yankees pitcher who is serving the remaining 63 games from his 81-game suspension for violating the league’s domestic violence policy, apologized for his Instagram posts on Friday in which he suggested he withdraw. German deleted those posts on Saturday and wrote, “I promise I won’t be leaving.” He added: “Not being with my teammates as they prepare for the season, knowing that I have disappointed them, it took its toll and last night I let my emotions take over me.” German also wrote that the past year had been “very hard” for him and his family, “for which I take full responsibility.” German, 27, was suspended in January under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy due to his actions in September involving his girlfriend.
